Théo and the chickens des Sauches

[MaryJanet]

Me too!

To replace a very steep stair/ladder to the attic, we bought a complete stair with a turn in 2 pieces. It was easy to assemble and not expensive at all.
Perhaps a search on the internet can save you a lot of time.

Yes, internet searches are step 1. But I'm not building stairs.

I was trying to be complimentary about Manue's partner's skills.

 

[ManueB]

Thank you for all the explanations on wood working trades! I think I have it covered now.

Yes, internet searches are step 1. But I'm not building stairs.

I was trying to be complimentary about Manue's partner's skills.

The dimensions we want are very atypical, and we need to have cupboards fit under the stairs. We didn't find anything suitable on the web. My partner isn't afraid of attempting new things even when he doesn't have the skill...and in this case, we have help if it goes wrong .

We had horrible weather these two days. Yesterday it rained a lot, almost 40 ml. It slowed down in the afternoon so the chickens were able to come out a bit, but there was a lot of mud everywhere. We were relieved to see having a little more dry space in the run definitely makes it more confortable when it rains. Now we have to decide if we leave it bare, if we add perches, or something the chickens can hide behind.
At four it was getting dark because the weather was so bad, so I locked all the chickens in the run. They went to bed toward five and we then took Lilly in our house to clean her foot. When I brought her back to the coop, Annette was waiting... outside the run at the locked door . I had forgotten her when herding the chickens in, and because she is such a free ranger she probably hadn't tried to come back before. Lesson learned - always count the chickens ! I was sure I had seen her inside but I was wrong.

Then we had a warm wind storm all night, all day, and it's still raging. When the wind comes from that specific direction, it blows smoke and ashes and soot in the house, so we can't light the stove. The chickens were very unhappy with the wind and so were we.

Merle seemed slightly better today. It's very strange but I think she has had two molting periods in a row. She had lost her tail and molted on her head in october and november. She began laying again at the end of december for just a week, then she stopped and started hiding and not eating again and I found feathers underneath her roost in the morning. I checked her four or five days ago and she is full of blood pin feathers on her belly! It's like it happened for Théo. I never heard before of chickens doing their molt in two separate periods, but they have both done that.

Piou-piou is now trying to become a house chicken She sneaks in anytime we leave the door open when we go in or out. I think she associates being inside the house with getting a special dish, since I've been giving her sardine or egg with brown rice every morning. I was thinking we should stop doing that, since the temperatures are now mostly above freezing, but my partner thinks it makes her happy and it's not really a problem to have her inside with us for an hour. I'm fully aware he is the one who turned our former barn kittens into couch potatoes cats .

Too damp for pictures yesterday.

Today.

Gaston is very keen seeing Merle coming back with the other chickens and he is trying to mate her again.

He has some hormonal switch I think because he is charging the hens again like crazy and is very "eager" with most of them which hasn't been the case these last months.

Merle.

Blanche. My partner says she has never had such nice feathers. For years they have been brittle and broken, but having a real molt for the first time means she has a new look. She still alternates good and bad days.

Annette nearly slept outside yesterday but for once I had no problem calling her back in this evening .

Mélisse, Annette and Lulu

Windy Mélisse.

 

[MaryJanet]

The dimensions we want are very atypical, and we need to have cupboards fit under the stairs. We didn't find anything suitable on the web. My partner isn't afraid of attempting new things even when he doesn't have the skill...and in this case, we have help if it goes wrong .

It's a great project! I understand what you're saying about the dimensions within the space and the cupboards. It'll make a big improvement to your home.

 

[Sequel]

Surely this tenderness toward animals is very endearing, no wonder you love him!

 

[ManueB]

Surely this tenderness toward animals is very endearing, no wonder you love him!

We tend to both alternate moments when we get very irritated or worried about them, and moments when we love them like our best friends . My partner loves the cats dearly ; he likes all the chickens and is especially fond of some of them : our three first ex-batts, Piou-piou, Merle, Chipie and Lilly. But I think it bothers him that we can't go away on holiday because of them. Because the two roosters still don't get along sufficiently well to be left completely without intervention, it's difficult to ask someone not familiar with roosters to supervise the house for a few days.

Today was grey, damp, but there was no wind, which we were all grateful for. Piou-piou laid in the crate this morning, she went on the nest as soon as she finished her breakfast, but she took a very long time, almost 2h30. She was making laying noise all along and since she was nesting I didn't dare take her outside. Maybe she would have been better laying in the coop ? Tomorrow she shouldn't lay so early so I will take her out so she can lay in the coop.

Gaston is indeed having a rush of hormone. It's not spring yet, but maybe it is because he's finished molting ? He keeps charging the hens and he's also chasing Théo a lot more. The hens don't really seem to appreciate his attentions, I guess they were better off when he was only mating a few times in the morning! Lilly already has a lot of broken feathers on her back. I hope it doesn't get to the point where she can get hurt.

I keep forgetting to post it, but MJ's post reminded me. I counted the eggs laid in 2023 by the hens that were there for the whole year, and I had a bit of a surprise. Sadly I wasn't very diligent and I left out noting eggs about 40 days throughout the year, so this is a count on 310 days :

Cannelle : 89 ( from January to July)
Léa : 166 (none in June, July and December)
Merle : 167
Nougat : 171
Piou-piou: 216
Chipie : 18

I was quite surprised that Piou-piou laid so much, but it's because she only went broody once and it didn't last. Also, I really thought Léa was laying a lot more than Merle because it feels like Merle is constantly broody and never laying more than a few eggs at a time, but in fact since Léa hatched the chicks and stopped for two months, and then stopped laying during her molt, they have laid the same number of eggs over the year.

I think I will have to do this on an excel sheet for 2024 because 12 hens laying takes too much time to count on paper.

And this reminds me also that we are both very surprised none of the eight hens that began laying in 2023, have shown any sign of broodiness. It's not surprising for the leghorns. But the cross Marand and the pullets hatched here also don't seem at all to think about sitting. It's a huge change from last year, when Merle turned broody two weeks after beginning to lay and then Léa and her seemed to be contagious wanting to sit every six weeks.
A bit of sun in the morning but it didn't last.

Laure is growing pretty big spurs. With the huge comb and wattles she has, I wonder if it's due to more male genetics than the other pullets or if it's from "breed" influence (not the correct word since she is a backyard mix!)

Merle wasn't doing great today. She isn't eating enough. Tomorrow I will weigh her and if she has lost weight I will start feeding her extras apart.

Blanche : good eye on the first picture, blind eye on the second.

The cat population was enthusiastic that we could light the wood stove today.

 

[Molpet]

I think I will have to do this on an excel sheet for 2024 because 12 hens laying t

A byc member has a spreadsheet,
Not that you are worried about the expense, but maybe you can use the egg part.
Post in thread 'Excel spreadsheet for tracking expenses and income from chickens' https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...and-income-from-chickens.124260/post-27408766

 

[Perris]

I counted the eggs laid in 2023 by the hens that were there for the whole year, and I had a bit of a surprise.

I've found it really pays to keep records, because impressions have misled me too.

think I will have to do this on an excel sheet for 2024 because 12 hens laying takes too much time to count on paper.

That's what I do; it's trivial.

 

[BDutch]

The cat population was enthusiastic that we could light the wood stove today.

A caturday picture for sure!

But I think it bothers him that we can't go away on holiday because of them. Because the two roosters still don't get along sufficiently well to be left completely without intervention, it's difficult to ask someone not familiar with roosters to supervise the house for a few days.

I would think you really should try harder to reach some kind of solution. It’s important you are both pleased with the situation. Maybe it’s possible to lend one rooster to someone for a few weeks who doesn’t want a rooster but likes to have fertilised eggs? Maybe someone has a better idea?
For a coexisting flock (with one rooster) an automatic pop door opener does wonders for a vacation.

 

[Shadrach]

Are there different names in english also, or does the word carpenter include all these jobs ?

Chippy, joiner, cabinet maker.

 

[ManueB]

A byc member has a spreadsheet,
Not that you are worried about the expense, but maybe you can use the egg part.
Post in thread 'Excel spreadsheet for tracking expenses and income from chickens' https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...and-income-from-chickens.124260/post-27408766

Thanks for pointing it out. I downloaded the file and I'll transfer it on my pc tonight to see what it looks like !

I would think you really should try harder to reach some kind of solution. It’s important you are both pleased with the situation. Maybe it’s possible to lend one rooster to someone for a few weeks who doesn’t want a rooster but likes to have fertilised eggs? Maybe someone has a better idea?
For a coexisting flock (with one rooster) an automatic pop door opener does wonders for a vacation.

People here have roosters in their flock. The few who don't can't have them for various reasons.
I think our best chance is changing our set up a bit so that Théo can come in and out of the coop and run without being seen by Gaston.
But anyway even without the roosters it's not easy to find a trustworthy friend willing to stay here for several days without leaving the house, to handle automatic and manual watering of the garden, and to watch over the chickens.
***************

It was cold and beautiful today, -4/24 this morning and it got to 7/44 during the day but still felt cool after the warm days we had.
There is something wrong with Chipie. Twice today she had something like convulsions for lack of a better word. Toward noon she was running jerking her head completely backwards. Tonight, running again it looked like her legs were paralysed and she was frantically trying to move them which meant she was sort of rolling on the ground. Both times she hid under the laurel tree after and both times I wondered if she was going to die. But she got up each time after a while looking exhausted. Then, she was aggressive with Laure.
It looks like she had some kind of fit.
I suppose one possibility is that it could be nutritional deficiency. She would be very hard to supplement as she is impossible to catch. I'll be putting vitamin in the flock's water for a few days.
But, since I have learned that she is older than we thought, and since she is so stressed by humans, I don't feel like enforcing treatment on her especially without really knowing what is going on.

Some better news is that I weighed Merle today and I think she hasn't lost any weight. It's a bit uncertain because the last time I weighed her was a year ago, but she weighs more or less the same, 1100 grams (2.4 Ibs ? I think ?). I really don't get it because she is now molting from the head, where she has already molted in autumn.

Don't ask me how they managed it but they laid together and didn't break an egg.

Chipie was looking ok in the afternoon. She is such a pretty crazy little hen.